Japan will face Germany on 23rd of November, which is the most important first game for both teams to advance to the tournament. Whilst Japan aims to advance to the quarter-final, they face a rocky road ahead as they lost to Canada with 1-2. Likewise, Germany’s performance in their last match against Oman made fans doubtful about their success in Qatar.
Samurai Blue tried rounding off their last game before the World Cup with a victory but they failed. Contrary to expectation, Canada continuously kept the upper hand through the game and grabbed victory with a penalty kick conceded in the additional time. However, aside from the disappointing result, it could be good news for Hajime Moriyasu to see that the condition of the payers who made a comeback from injuries did not look problematic. “Our staff and players are preparing for this well. So for tomorrow’s match, we would like to exert our best performance aggressively,” he said.
Similarly, Germany struggled to beat Oman as the story was the same in the 80th minute, with many chances denied by the Middle Eastern country whose name was not on the list of Qatar 2022. It was supposed to be an easy and one-sided game for this European country but the friendly match questioned their latest condition and ability as a team. However, Hansi Flick, the manager of Germany, stressed: “We have very good conditions now to get into the game. We can be very positive, have very positive outlook going into this game.”
As Argentina was surprisingly beaten by Saudi Arabia, nobody knows what will happen in the World Cup. Given Germany’s latest performance, perhaps Japan might have a few chances to upset, which could be another surprise in Qatar.
The game kicks off at 1:00 pm UK time at Khalifa International Stadium.
